Government Govt hails 8000 extra places in public housing programme as demand continues to boom

The Government is today hailing having added an extra 8000 places to its public housing programme since 2017.

The announcement comes as demand for social housing continues to far outstrip supply, with another nearly 400 applicants added in May bringing the total on the waiting list to a record 24,404.

On average, people have to wait 173 days to be housed.

The list, supplied by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, has swelled to more than four times the size it was when Labour was elected in 2017.

On Thursday Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said of the 74,337 households now being supported in public housing places, 6503 were living in "brand new public homes built since November 2017 under this Government".

"We believe every New Zealander deserves to live in a warm, dry home and that the state has a role in helping make that happen.

"We have committed to adding over 18,000 public and transitional housing places by 2024 and this is well on track."

Housing Minister Megan Woods said at the opening of six new state homes in Christchurch, 8121 public housing places had been added by Kāinga Ora and Community Housing Providers since November 2017.

"Together, Kāinga Ora and Community Housing Providers delivered 6503 newly built homes over this period, sometimes replacing old houses that had passed their use-by-date and allowing a greater number of homes on the same site.

"We inherited a housing crisis following a hands-off approach from the last National Government, which had a mass state housing sell-off, ending up with a net 1500 fewer public housing places.

"I have set an expectation for both Kāinga Ora and the CHP sector that as many of the public housing places as possible, should be new builds."

About 87 per cent of Kāinga Ora's additional housing places (public and supported) delivered in the last financial year were new builds, from a low under National of just 24 per cent in 2010/11, she said.

Kāinga Ora has another 7000 more new builds in the planning, feasibility, and procurement stages, with over 3000 to be contracted and construction starting in the next 12 months.

The Government's housing figures have come under scrutiny recently from National Party housing spokeswoman Nicola Willis, with figures showing just half of the extra places added were "new".

The Government added 4980 new-build public housing places through Kāinga Ora as of April, but most of these go to replacing the 3028 homes that were sold, leased or demolished.

Kāinga Ora added to those numbers by purchasing 1165 homes from the private market and leasing 595.

Community housing providers delivered 5124 new state homes as of April, two-thirds of the total number of state homes.

But only 1009 of those homes are actually "new". Most were leased or purchased from the private market for use as public housing.

"The Government has been pumping-up its figures by buying and leasing thousands of homes in direct competition with first-home buyers and renters, potentially exacerbating the underlying housing shortage," Willis said.

"The Government's housing arm, Kāinga Ora, has failed to reach its targets for delivering newly built state homes in each of the past two years.

"This failure has had colossal consequences for our most vulnerable citizens and their families.

"Meanwhile, the public housing wait list has exploded to yet another record high as more and more New Zealanders are squeezed out of the private rental market.

"It needs to get all hands on deck focused on building homes for those in need, including with community housing providers and private developers."